The University Match (cricket)
| First meeting | 4 June 1827 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | 30 June 2015 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 171 (incl. 1 abandoned) |
| All-time series | 59-55-56, Cambridge |
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. From 2001, in most of their fixtures Oxford appeared as the Oxford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Oxford UCCE, incorporating Oxford Brookes University), and Cambridge appeared as the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Cambridge UCCE, incorporating Anglia Ruskin University), but this does not apply to the University Match(es).
The match was first played in 1827 at the instigation of Charles Wordsworth who was also responsible for founding the Boat Race in 1829. It was traditionally an annual three-day first-class fixture, normally held at Lord's. From the 1830s until 1939, it was among the most important fixtures of the season, attracting large crowds and widespread press coverage. It was still a major social, as well as sporting, event as recently as just after World War II . According to The Cricketer (1954), the 1954 match attracted over 13,000 paying spectators as well as MCC members.
In terms of the clubs concerned, the University Match dating from 1827 is the oldest first-class fixture still being played. (However, it should be noted that fixtures involving certain county teams prior to formation of the current county clubs do have a much longer history. The oldest known county fixture is Kent v Surrey, which dates back to 1709 at least. The oldest county club is Sussex CCC, founded in 1839.)
The next two University matches were in 1829 and 1836. From 1838 it has been played annually, except for the war years of 1915-1918 and 1940-45. (From 1941-45, a one-day fixture was played at Lord's, but these matches are not counted in the official records.) The first match was played at Lord's, but it was only in 1851 that Lord's became the permanent venue, five of the early matches having been played in the vicinity of Oxford.
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